When my husband walked out on me over a year ago, it devastated me. When the divorce papers came, it killed me. When we had to sell our house, it broke me.

But then he moved in with his new flavor of the month and told our daughter his new woman wasn’t into children. That pissed me off.

Now Riley feels abandoned, and I can’t make it better; no matter how hard I try. I’m desperate to help her adjust to the loss of a male figure in her life. The companion program that matches adults up with children who have loneliness and abandonment issues is my last hope.

The counselors tell me he’s doing community service hours, and I ask to sit in on his meetings with Riley. The minute I see him astride the matte black Harley, I know neither my nor Riley’s life will ever be the same again.

Trick

Community Service. Two words I should be thankful for, but I’m not. I resent the hours it’s away from building my business. The two previous kids I'd been paired up with didn’t work out because their mothers were more interested in getting in my bed. This next match with a little girl is my last hope. Unless this kid works out, I’m destined to serve time.

When they push her into the room wearing pink converse with a black dress, her crazy curls barely held back by the barrette in her hair, and studious glasses on her face, I can tell she’s scared - of new people, of change, of being pushed aside. Something inside of me breaks, and I want this girl to feel wanted again.

What I’m unprepared for is meeting her mom. The second our hands touch, there are fireworks, bright lights, and a picture of the future I could one day have. The future I’ve never allowed myself to wish for.

Community service becomes more than a chore, more than time I resent for being taken away from me. In the months that follow, I realize they’re just like me: they’ve been abandoned, left behind by the world, forgotten by those who should love them.

Thanks to the one last hope in both our lives - we found the light in the darkness we’d been searching for.

Laramie Briscoe is the best-selling author of the Heaven Hill Series & the Rockin' Country Series.

Since self-publishing her first book in May of 2013, Laramie Briscoe has published over 10 books. She's appeared on the Top 100 Bestselling E-books Lists on iBooks, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. She's been called "a very young Maya Banks" (Amazon reviewer) and her books have been accused of being "sexy, family-oriented, romances with heart".

When she's not writing alpha males who seriously love their women, she loves spending time with friends, reading, and marathoning shows on her DVR. Married to her high school sweetheart, Laramie lives in Bowling Green, KY with her husband (the Travel Coordinator) and a sometimes crazy cat named Beau.

Our Forever

When you fall in love with your best friend, it’s the kind of love that’s supposed to last forever.
Jo Donovan was a true believer of happily ever afters—until her best friend, Christopher, was killed in Afghanistan, destroying her belief that fairy-tale endings existed.
Destroying her. Destroying her world.
Five years later…
Jo finds herself still stuck in the past, unable to find closure with Christopher’s death.
When she moves to Austin, Texas, with her son, Junior, she’s finally given the fresh start she’s been desperately seeking.
What she doesn’t know is that the fresh start comes in the form of her sexy neighbor, Drew Greyson.
Their friendship starts off rocky, but eventually, a spark between them ignites. It isn’t long before that spark turns explosive, and she finds herself falling for him.
Drew wants to be her everything, her forever, but will Jo’s pain from losing Christopher stop her from following her heart?
Warning: Recommended for ages 18+ due to explicit language and sexual situations.

About Elena Matthews

Receptionist by day, author by night, Elena Matthews is from Manchester, United Kingdom, the home of Manchester United, MediaCity and of course, Coronation Street. When Elena isn’t writing, she can be found with her nose in a book or watching guilty pleasures such as Grey’s Anatomy. And when she isn’t doing any of those things, you can often find her on Facebook, obsessing over Kellan Kyle, book boyfriend extraordinaire.

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Goodreads

I received an arc in exchange for an honest review
Just a warning to people that if you don't like dark reads then this isn't the book for you, as there are scenes of violence and taboo subjects.
This book is not your typical Romeo and...

It was nice to have Bash's story in print.
I finally got to understand why he did what he did. The pressures that he was under and that he felt that he had only one way out of it.
It's nice to see a book that deals with real life issue...

This deserves 4.5 stars
This was a dark dark read, only read this if you like dark reads.
Pepper doesn't disappoint with this book, OMG Pepper but where do you get you ideas from this was fantastic.
This is a slightly different plot b...

**** I received this arc in exchange for an honest review***
This book is about two desperately messed up people who come together.
Grayson has just escaped an abusive relationship and moves home. She has a twin who is the complete opp...